He had fought Lethargy all his life, had wrestled that varmint to the mat more times than he could remember, but now that the end was drawing near there stood his perennial foe, young as ever and wearing a smile wide as the universe.

Only the week before he had heard an accomplished attorney lament that he no longer had the energy that drove him to the top of his profession. He listened without saying a word, but knew exactly what his friend meant.

Knew it in his very bones!

What to do? Does he now toss in the towel, so to speak, and finish his days cocooned in an easy chair watching re-runs on TV?

Never, never, he vows, not that! Of course he knows he is ordained to lose the final contest. How could it be otherwise when fighting an enemy that refuses to grow old? That grins at him something awful, even in his dreams. Nevertheless, he vows to go down fighting to the last breath.

At least that’s what he tells himself, all the while eying the easy chair.

That overstuffed chair gets more inviting each day and if not for the grin that won’t go away he might just settle there until the ticker quits and the lights go out.